AS/A2 Sociology

AS/A2 Sociology
The course is designed to enable you to:
Develop and use knowledge to analyse modern society
Critically assess different views on the way society works
Explore the core themes of socialisation, culture and identity, social differentiation, power and stratification.
Use ICT appropriately to research factual evidence about society
Develop communication skills (listening, speaking and writing) through your studies of social issues.
Is it for me?
The course suits those with a genuine interest in other people, their lives, attitudes and behaviour and who do not mind having their own ideas challenged or challenging others. You should be politically aware and have good communication skills. Assessment is exam based.
What's involved?
Families and Households
You will examine the diversity of modern families, exploring changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation, separation, divorce, childbearing and the life-course. Demographic trends in the UK since 1900 are examined. You will study roles and relationships in families, looking closely at the division of tasks and power. The changing nature of childhood is a central theme. You will consider different views on the role of the family in society and look at how the family relates to the social structure, especially the economy. The way that social change and state policies have affected the family are also explored.
Education and Research Methods
This will help you to understand the role, impact and experience of education. You will look at state policies on education. You will consider what happens inside schools as well as relating factors outside school, such as social class, gender and ethnicity, to achievement. You will compare different explanations of the role of the education system. This unit introduces you to the skill of researching social issues. You will learn about the range of data-gathering methods sociologists employ and explore some of the key issues they must consider. You will encounter practical, ethical and theoretical debates. You will learn how to apply sociological research methods to the study of education.
Beliefs in Society
This unit involves an examination of different theories of ideology, science and religion.
Religious organisations including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements are explored. The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritual organisations, beliefs and practices are considered. A central theme is the significance of religion in the contemporary world and we look at this on a global scale. The relationship between religious beliefs and social change is also a major focus. It is necessary to relate the content of this unit to theories, methods of enquiry and the core themes of the course.
Crime and Deviance
In this final unit different theories of crime, deviance, social order and social control are examined. There is a focus on the social distribution of crime by age, ethnicity, gender, locality and social class. The study of suicide is a central theme. Crime control, prevention and punishment are explored and the perspective of victims and the role of crime prevention agencies are considered. Recent developments including global crime, green crime and human rights issues are relevant and the role of the media is significant.
The connections between sociological theory and methods and the study of crime and deviance are a very important part of this unit.
Progression
Students who have studied Sociology have gone on to a wide range of Higher Education courses in the Social Science field, e.g. Law, Anthropology and Sociology, and they have entered careers involving people skills such as Teaching, Social Work and Human Resource Management.